X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 5.0 - Ancient and Secret Ways

The Indoor Forest is a shockingly big place. In 1 inch=5 feet, the map would be about 70 inches across and up and down. 

This area should be a slog, but there are not enough events and wandering monsters to make it too difficult. In fact, the party doesn't meet a single wandering monster. 

Previously, I mentioned the rakasta entered the forest first. What I did in this case was roll for wandering monsters on a schedule, then gave the party and the rakasta a 50-50 chance of meeting the rolled monsters. The rakasta got the short end of the stick using this method. They ran from a group of bears before getting into a fight.  

With Gabby and Gronk as guides at the front of the group, the party made it through relatively quickly. This area is really only dangerous if the party wanders from the path, and Gabby wouldn't let them. 

I would make a real group of players pick a proper marching order, but since this is a solo session, the order is very loose. Gronk and Lance lead, with Nononn and Gabby behind them. Jude, Merry, Parker, and Warren ring the magic users and clerics. Rety is the trailer, watching everyone's backs. 

To bring the Killer Trees back, Gabby and Lance threw meat to them, which made them happy. The rough patch happens with the illusions. Sybil has become less wise and is empowered by magic and chaos. She wanted to investigate endlessly, increasing her chances of wandering into something dangerous. Rety, Lance, and Gabby convinced her to return to the task at hand. 

Having made their way to the lady and unicorn, Gabby and Gronk sat down to wait for them to awake. The rest of the party doesn't exactly follow suit, but they do become aware that this is some sort of game between the witch and the denizens of the forest. Lance and Khouri took a knee nearby when they realized both were pretending to sleep. The rest of the party stood by politely. 

"It's ok," said Gabby. "We shared Bonds of Hospitality, which prevents violence." 

The lady sat up and said, "That was a long time ago, and it should not hold." 

This ritual spell is limited to a day or so, but I would use this spell to introduce some weirdness of Castle Amber to the party. 

"You should not have cast it on an immortal being. I dislike being bound, even in pleasant cases," said the unicorn. "You are well met, again, witch." 

Gabby bowed to them both before bringing out the key. "We wish to be free." 

The lady nodded. I personally dislike how long it takes the party to know the secret of Castle Amber. 

The lady, full of the lore of dragons, can recite part of the mystery but not all: 

"The secret that will break the curse surrounding Castle Amber and lift the gray mist is engraved on the inside lid of Stephen Amber's casket. To summon Prince Stephen's tomb from beyond space and time, four magical items are needed. And it starts with the key." 

Gabby smiled at them. 

"Where is the tomb?" asked Nononn. 

"We do not know," the unicorn answered, "but it is reachable from the castle. You will have to explore it more." 

"Wait," said Rety, "Have you explored the castle completely?" 

The lady smiled. "No, we are immortal beings; we are not confined by the mists and magic. We can leave any time we like."

"And no, we can lead you out. You are trapped by your own doing just, and I and the 'corn are bound by Gabby's spell," the lady continued. "We suggest either traveling east or north."

"Beware of the cat men, the Rakasta. They move ahead of you, seeking something else entirely." 

(I think I have spelled "rakasta" wrong every time, differently. If only AI was good for something.) 

The party thanked them and moved north along the path. At the fountain in the middle of the forest, they found bodies, the aftermath of a fight. Five rakasta lay dead, along with a horse and a woman. The woman was Isidora Amber. Disturbingly, it appeared the rakasta attacked each other. All had noticeable tiger-claw wounds. 

The party deduces that the woman was waylaid by the rakasta as she sat near the fountain. The reality was the opposite. Isidora Amber ambushed the rakasta as they killed the amoeba in the fountain. The survivors escaped with the key. Gabby took Isidora's potion and ring while Bel took her spell book. 

The party moved northwest and stopped when they spotted movement to the right. 

"Show-offs!" grumbled Gronk. 

At first, the party only saw squirrels. Then they saw the squirrels transform acorns into gold. More curious and amused, Bel, Rety, Lance, and Sybil start feeding them. They were perplexed that the squirrels don't turn apples, peaches, and plums into gold. They had a nervous moment when a squirrel touched Lance, but he didn't turn to gold either. 

Amused, they started to move away when Wild Hunt blocked the path before them. 

Warren, Parker, Nononn, Jude, and Merry formed a line between the rest of the party and The Hunt. No one moved as both groups stared each other down. The impasse was broken by an angry snort from behind the party. The lady and the unicorn had followed them. 

The lady dismounted and waved to Jude, who smiled. He mounted the `corn with his pole arm held like a lance. Nononn gave him a shield, and I pulled out my copy of Chainmail to use the jousting rules. That link is to DriveThruRPG. 

Breaking a lance does 1d4 points of damage, unhorsing does 1d6, and helmet hits, and injuries do full weapon damage. Jude manages to unhorse Andrew David. I could have had Jude continue with the other four, or I could have stopped here, using the morale rules. Andrew David, having been knocked down, would have counted as the first casualty. 

Although the unicorn was simply a vehicle for Jude to use his abilities, I do have a fully spec'ed out Unicorn class to use. You can check it out here. I may reformat this and post it as an actual character class on DrivethruRPG and Ko-Fi. 

I have never really been satisfied with mounted combat in D&D, in every version. I use a format where the mount handles all movement and gives up its attacks. Once the rider becomes separated from their mount, both are free to attack. Anything else is too overpowering. I guess I should get better at describing quick and fast movement, because I can't find a way to fix these rules. They are good enough. 

I didn't take detailed notes as I went through this combat while watching hockey. The party was victorious, having killed Andrew David, the elk, two tigers, and both lupin. They now have his potion, his mace +2, and his shield. I figured he had a shield to go with the lance. The rest fled due to failing morale. 

The party healed themselves up and proceeded on to the Chapel entrance. The next session will be session 6.0. 

Over the next week, I will be watching the Sabres battle the Canadiens while making some changes to the website. The top banner for DriveThruRPG is only the start of some changes around here. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 4.2 Character Updates - Officially Wrong

The other day, I posted updated Character Sheets and then realized I had forgotten to update their ability scores and ancillary stats. I like to relax and watch a hockey game, and sometimes write a bit while doing that. Updating character sheets while watching hockey simply didn't work. 

You know what I did? I did it again for the Sabres vs. Stars game. I did go back after the game and tried to double-check things. If I have made a mistake this time, it will be Officially Wrong forever. 

I have a feeling I botched Jude's stats, but lost my notes. I guess I'll never know for sure. 

Gabby's sheet is still blank on the equipment. This is because I am not using the standard sheet for her. I am using the character folio made by JV West for Other Side Publishing. 

I didn't want to post a file of that, but here is the sample image from DrivethruRPG:

I love it. 

This weekend, I will continue the adventure. 

To get us ready, let's have a brief recap of where we left the party. There were some clear winners and losers at dinner in Castle Amber. Gabby was able to save the day a couple of times to prevent instant death. She had foreknowledge of the potential dangers from a disastrous meal eaten by the rakshasa. 

Gronk, as a rabbit, offered a lot of bad advice. He warned the characters about the beef, bread, and mushrooms - all items rabbits can't eat. He offered no opinion on the alcohol because, as an intelligent rabbit, he doesn't consume alcohol but knows humanoids do and enjoy it. All of this happened because some of the items were outside of his knowledge. As a DM, you can feed the party information, but the party would be wise to understand that some creatures don't have the same ideas or perspectives as themselves. That's right out of Niven's Laws:

15. There exist minds that think as well as you do, but differently.
15a. Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them. 

Giant rabbits aren't turkeys, but they are close. And heavier. And eat more.  

All of the participants in the meal had their stats scrambled. Sybil, as a chaotic character, was damaged the most by losing a point of Wisdom and gaining Charisma. She can talk a good game, but the games won't be ones you'd want to play. 

Alexei paid the ultimate price, fading away to join the ghostly party. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. 

This is the soul version of Hotel California. The reason for it is two-fold. It's a good song that holds up to changes. That's how I like to play D&D. It's also a callback to when my wife and I saw Don Henley in concert. You know he HAD to play this song, but after decades of playing Hotel California, he gave it a Zydeco rhythm. Sometimes, you have to change things up to keep it fresh. 

This is Gabby's role in the party. She has more experience in the Castle and a wildly different perspective than the party. She will attempt to herd this wacky bunch through the Indoor Forest, a place she knows pretty well. It couldn't be worse than herding rakshasa. Lance followed her in there, so at least he is willing to trust her. That may sway the party into avoiding some of the threats. 

So, I will see you next time in the Wood Between Worlds... er the Indoor Forest. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 4.1 Character Updates - Mistakes Were Made

The best intentions sometimes go sideways. 

I scanned in my character sheets after session 4.0 and forgot to update their ability scores from the Tossed Salad Incident. I will come back and fix it tomorrow. 

Here is a link to the sheets: Session 4.0 character sheets. You can see I use one of the OSE sheets for nearly every member of the party. These are available on several websites, such as Necrotic Gnome and DriveThruRPG. They are free despite the cart button on each website. My Ko-Fi has the same thing going on, free items still have a cart button. 

Gabby's sheet is largely blank because I am using a specific witch-themed character sheet for her. It is protected by magic... er, a cat in the image on the left. 

In the last session, the party topped up their supplies. You'll notice on the character sheets that most players have one and only one flask of oil. Those who have more flasks are the mature characters who are unlikely to set someone or something on fire with it. 

Like the sleep spell, oil is an underrated means of attack. I wanted to get it out of the way before continuing the adventure.

In the next session or two, we will meet two interesting creatures depicted by some of the most evocative pieces of artwork in a module. 

For shits and giggles, and my wife*, I made my own Unicorn Character Class. It's not too OP as the class is based on the Magic-User. I need to update this character class, as one core feature is missing from the class: Untrammel. Untrammel is a special ability in my campaign that causes restrictions like webs and ropes to unbind to free someone. 

Maybe I'll do that this week. 

*There is a long-running joke in our family about the unicorn character class:

"Dad, if Mom can be a unicorn, how will you top that?"

"Mecha`corn."  

The Mobile Post on Witches

I have a lot going on this week. The Sabres made the playoffs for the first time in forever,

I need to do my taxes and get my garden ready. We also heard from my son, who is off in the Middle East. I also have to admit that I have been playing far more video games than normal. 

So, today's post is from my phone while my wife takes us out for garden supplies and gas. 

I need to do a review of a couple of books I bought. 

Pictured to the right is The Left Hand Path by Timothy Brannan. He has a whole series of these titles, covering many witch traditions. I have always been taken with the idea of a witch character since reading the blurb for a witch character class in the 1977 DM's Guide. Nothing I cooked up ever felt right, but these books are perfect. 

There is also a specific character sheet for the witch class that is a lot of fun. It's hard to post an image without giving the whole thing away, but here is one with our familiar protecting it. 

If I complete my missions today, I may come back with a second update today. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 4.0 Fate Comes Knocking

Let me start with a big thank you to all the people who told me what "NSA" meant in my last post. "No Special Abilities". I didn't find a typo. The sword and armor were taken by Jude.  

Jude is now an AC tank but he is still soft on actual HP. 

The party was in hiding, trying to get their hit points up. Since they are quiet, I decided to only roll 4 times for wandering monsters. Three Galvan Magen stumbled upon the party, but Parker and Warren played dress-up and convinced their former brethren to leave. 

Second, fate knocked on the Study door. 12 rakasta stood in the hallway. Gabby and Nononn were able to negotiate with them and solve a couple of problems. At the end of the last session, the party laid the dead respectfully outside for burial. The new rakasta took over and buried them for the party. They were encouraged to do this as the party turned over all of the dead rakasta's weapons and the herbs Gabby had collected. Catnip was highly desired by them. The newcomers then left through the Indoor Forest. As the rakasta wandered the area, the party completed the burial of their dead. 

All of this was a bit white-knuckled for a party with depleted hit points, so they heeded Gabby's advice and hunkered down in the Study for 48 hours. 

Searching through the rakasta's gear, they found all kinds of useful things, most of which were only good for role-play. They found needles and thread, tents, clothing, rope, bedding, food, and a few flasks of oil, plus a few casks of water, wine, and brandy.

They also searched the study itself. The Magic-Users and Cleric found some interesting books, while the Bard found a map and a book of musical instruments. 

The party equitably distributed the equipment of the dead, since there was no escape from this place. They are in possession of 3 bags of holding. They can literally carry more than 2 fully loaded wagons. They took 3 of the smallest tents and the casks. 

As they sat out the next day, they modified the clothing they found the best they could. Each party member has 50 feet of rope, one flask of oil, a small lamp, a bedroll, and an extra set of clothes. Most of this was packed away in the bags of holding. 

They found one barrel of beef jerky, which everyone liked, and 6 barrels of dried fish, which almost no one liked. Warren and Parker found it acceptable, mostly because they have little experience with real food. When the time comes, they will convert to actual character classes to make up for party losses and have real opinions and tastes. 

After 48 hours, the party got itchy feet. Nononn, Jude, and Rety continued the military-like sweep of the west wing, despite Gabby warning them against that. She was able to steer them away from the room with the wraiths. At this point, I realized I had made a mistake of omission. The whole area 5 was described as a giant, blinding trap. Since I haven't mentioned it until now, it will continue to be ignored. 

Some things can't be fixed. 

The party discovered the ghost hobgoblins and followed them into the Dining Room. Gabby has experienced this meal before and tried to dissuade the party. Her plea convinced Lance, Merry, and Dorian not to participate. As the others sat down for a fine meal, Gabby asked the non-participants to take a seat. Alexei was an edge case, opting to drink everything placed before him as he strummed a dinner-time tune.

Rather than go through each serving, I will pause only on the negative results. The tossed salad affects everyone in small ways, but really impacts Sybil. Her Charisma goes up by two while her Wisdom, which was already pretty low, dropped by one. Being chaotic, this is dangerously close to the funniest Thief I have ever rolled. 

This is an odd trick for B/X based rules because of how the ability score modifiers work. You are unlikely to change enough to be mechanically affected, unless you lose points in your prime requisite ability. In AD&D, the effects are more dramatic because the modifiers are spread a little more. 

Khouri and Jude suffer from the bread. Since Khouri is a post-human with both heavily modified genes and nanites, she gets hot instead of suffering from the starvation-like hunger that Jude will experience. It doesn't harm her, but it does prevent her from eating any more food. She wandered the room, fanning herself and swearing. She is also immune to slow and haste spells. I have thought of adding more immunities, but that would require going through every spell. 

Gronk was less than helpful, advising the party on what should and should not be eaten. As a rabbit, he warns them about the bread, mushrooms, and beef, which was a confusing mixed bag of advice. Jude and Bel laugh off the warnings as "Rabbit-Talk" and immediately run afoul of poisoned mushrooms. Only the forward thinking and quick action by Gabby saved their lives. Since the whole party sat, there were extra glasses of amber wine to cancel the poison. 

Bel is not the smartest guy and rejoined the meal to the finish. As a bit of meta-humor, Jude eats Nononn's bread and undoes the curse of the bread, but then stops participating. Nononn and Rety grew wary of the meal and stopped, too. 

Gabby was relieved; she was convinced the party wouldn't make it through unscathed, if at all. 

And they didn't. Bel, Sybil, and Alexei drank the brandy, and Alexei paid the price. His playing took on a haunted sound as he faded away with the other guest. 

In the next session, there will be combat and immortal creatures.